Preparing for yearly upgrades to your single-family rental home is a smart investment strategy. Rental homes should be regularly maintained and updated so they remain current and competitive in the ever-changing market. Property values all over Palm Harbor rely on the condition of the home both inside and out, so investing a bit to upgrade things every now and then is worth the time and the cost involved.
Before you start your upgrade, you should be aware that not all upgraded are going to have a direct benefit to property owners. There are upgraded that offer advantages for the tenant but will not increase the overall value of the property. For example, installing new kitchen cabinets in your rental properties seems like an upgrade that would benefit both you and your tenants. Your tenants will appreciate the quality cabinets, and you might think that new cabinets will increase your property’s value. However, kitchen cabinets are one upgrade that isn’t normally worth the cost since any likely value increase will probably be less than what has been spent. If the kitchen cabinets in your rental are in bad shape, you should replace them with something better. Other than that, all your cabinets need is just a nice cleaning or perhaps a coat of paint or stain to keep them looking good.
Another upgrade that has far more benefits for the tenants than for the owner of a rental home is high-end window treatments. Your tenants might ask for upgraded blinds, valences, or drapery systems to customize their space but again owners want tenants to make a rental home comfortable, providing any window treatments aside from standard blinds or shutters is really not beneficial. Fancy window treatments don’t add much to the overall value of your property and are so strongly connected to an individual style that they rarely have widespread appeal.
Speaking of personal style, other decorative features such as trendy paint colors, custom garage doors, and so on might seem like a good way to entice good tenants. However, as with window treatments, the appeal of decorative features can vary from person to person. For this reason, upgrading beyond good quality, basic doors, windows, and interiors holds little to no benefit for property owners. To have a quality rental home with lasting appeal, skip the latest trends and opt for the less exciting but more trustworthy décor themes commonly seen in other rental homes.
Whether you’ve performed upgrades or not, rental property maintenance must always be a priority to retain value. At Real Property Management TradeWinds, we are devoted to protecting your investment while forming great relationships with your tenants. For additional information concerning our property management services, please contact us online or give us a call directly at 727-400-4722.